Repairing a Lost or Broken Crown in a Dental Emergency

Dental crowns go on top of damaged teeth to restore their function and beauty. Unfortunately, like natural teeth, dental crowns can sometimes come loose or fall off when put under pressure.

Having a loose or broken crown can be unnerving and incredibly painful. When a crown falls off, the exposed tooth is especially sensitive to hot and cold foods when chewing, and even air can cause pain.

Are you dealing with a lost or broken crown? The emergency dentists at Vero Dental Spa, can help restore your crown and guide you through this troubling process.

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Why Do Crowns Fall Out?

There are a number of reasons a dental crown might fall out, break, or come loose. Usually, crowns come loose while eating, flossing, or brushing your teeth.

The problem can either be attributed to the crown itself or the tooth structure underneath. With proper maintenance, your dental crown can last anywhere from 5 to 15 years. Some common reasons your crown might fail, include:

Dental trauma. Dental trauma, like a blow to the teeth or biting into an unnatural or hard food, can break your crown and cause it to fall off the tooth.

Chronic teeth grinding. Teeth grinding, also known as bruxism, puts excessive force on your teeth. Just as bruxism can cause your real teeth to crack, it can also destroy your dental crown.

Decay of the underlying tooth structure. When the tooth structure underneath the crown gets decay along the gum-line, the tooth becomes too small for the crown, making it loose and susceptible to failure.

Your dentist used weak or contaminated cement. Sometimes dental crowns fail, because the cement used to glue the crown down wasn’t prepared correctly. At Vero Dental Spa, our emergency dentists only uses the highest quality cement for crowns, ensuring that yours stays in place for years to come.

What to Do After a Lost or Broken Crown

When you notice that a crown has come loose or cracked, the first thing you should do is locate the crown or pieces of the crown. If your crown is still completely intact, it can most likely be reattached.

If you notice that your crown is dislodged or loose, you can try gently pulling it off to avoid accidentally swallowing or losing it.

At Vero Dental Spa, we will be able to reattach the crown for you. If we find that the crown is cracked, or if the defect is due to something other than loose cement, we will need to fabricate a new crown.

It’s important that you get to our office as soon as possible, before the tooth becomes too weak or damaged to hold a crown, or the gap causes your teeth to shift.

Reducing Pain from a Lost Crown

If you’re feeling excessive pain from the exposed tooth, there are a number of ways you can try and reduce pain, until you get to the dentist:

Apply some clove oil on a cotton swab to dull the tooth pain. You can typically find clove oil at your local CVS pharmacy or the spice aisle at your supermarket. Take an over-the-counter pain reliever, like ibuprofen, aspirin, or aleve.

Remember that these are very temporary fixes to relieve pain. If you’ve lost or broken a crown, it’s important to contact our office as soon as possible.

Sometimes you might think your dental crown is cracked, when it’s the underlying tooth structure. At Vero Dental Spa, we will address your cracked tooth, and do everything we can to preserve the underlying tooth structure.

Repairing a Dental Crown

When treating a cracked crown, we might be able to smooth down and reshape a cracked crown, depending on the size and shape of the damaged crown.

If your broken crown is too severe, we might need to create a brand new prosthesis. In the case that we need to create a new prosthesis, we can give you a temporary crown to help minimize pain and damage, while your new crown is being created. In some cases, we might need to change the shape of the tooth to ensure the new crown fits and will not fall off again.

Prevent Your Crown From Falling Off in the Future

You can help preserve the longevity of your dental crown by taking some extra precautions.

Wear a nightguard. Wearing a mouthguard while you sleep can help preserve your crown from cracking, especially if you’re prone to bruxism and teeth grinding.

Avoid hard foods and candies. Sticky and hard foods and candies are one of the biggest causes of dental trauma. Avoid biting directly into hard candies.

Avoid chewing on ice, or using your teeth as tools. It’s not uncommon for crowns to become damaged or loose from patients using their teeth as tools to open packaging.

Choose Vero Dental Spa for Your Emergency Dentist

Emergency dental situations can be scary. At Vero Dental Spa, we make your emergency dental treatment as pain-free and convenient as possible. Our dentists have advanced dental experience in emergency dental care, ensuring that even when you’re in a bind, you still receive the most exceptional service. Call Vero Dental Spa today, and get your dental crown fixed immediately, 772-778-5550.